love letters- jess mariano

15. except you, you can stay

-

it was now thursday morning and i woke up and did my normal routine for school; i woke up, brushed my teeth, showered, hair and makeup, coffee.

i made sure my assignment was in my bag, so i could hand it in to my teacher.

"hey, honey." my mom smiled, as she tied up her hair into a messy bun. "i'm at the shop all day decorating with lorelai, so you might want to get food at luke's or something tonight." she explained.

i nodded with a small smile, before picking up my bag and swinging it over my shoulder. "bye, love you." i yelled, before walking out of the door.

-

i looked around to see if i could see jess at lunch, but he wasn't in sight. so, i decided to sit with my friend cassidy.

cassidy was so sweet and she always wanted to be helpful, but she wasn't the brightest. i loved hanging out with her though, she always made me laugh with her eventful love stories.

"and then he grabbed my boob." she told, whilst eating an apple explaining her story to me on what happened with this guy she hooked up with.

i just laughed at what she said not really sure on how to respond to it. "have you seen jess today?" i questioned, i knew they had a few classes together, so i thought to ask her.

"jess...?" she mumbled trying to think back. "no, he wasn't in my calculus class." she replied. "you haven't seen him?"

i shook my head, "no i haven't heard from him or seen him all day." i explained to her with a slight frown.

"maybe he's just sick?" she shrugged, as i nodded along.

she looked down at her chipped pink nails, before shooting her head back up and looking at me. "did i tell you what happened with gary!?" she gasped.

"no?" i laughed, before i sat and listened to her story.

-

it was the end of the school day and i walked up to my locker to grab my books i needed to take home.

i noticed peter was stood at his. our lockers weren't very far from each other.

i could feel him staring at me, as i took out my physics book. as soon as i knew he wasn't looking at me i would quickly glance over and watched him doing something in his locker.

i finally finished and shut it, after putting everything i needed in my bag.

i kept my head down and tried to quickly walk past him, without an awkward interaction, but of course that didn't happen.

"sabrina." he called out, as i slowly came to a stop and shut my eyes.

i took a deep breath, before turning around and flashing a smile on my face. "yes?"

i could see that he was stood really tense, he looked like he had something he needed to get off his chest.

"what's up, peter?" i asked trying to get him to speak.

he looked down and the ground for a second, before looking back up at me. "i'm sorry." he blurted out.

i looked to the side slightly. why was he doing all this now? "it's okay" i awkwardly smiled at him.

"i have a girlfriend." he revealed. "she's really great." he told me, as i smiled still unsure on what he was getting at. "i'm sorry for how i acted when we were together and how i was at the end of our relationship." he explained to me.

"it's okay, don't worry about it." i chuckled softly, before turning my body away from him.

"i took your advice." he then told me. i raised an eyebrow unsure of what this so called advice was. "well, i took it as advice, i've made sure to involve her in the conversation more." he explained, as a smile formed on my face.

"and everything is good?" i questioned, as he nodded. "see peter, you're a great guy. we just weren't right for each other."

peter smiled at me slightly, "so i just wanted to say i'm sorry and thank you."

"no seriously, it's okay." i smiled at him politely. there was an awkward interval of silence for a few moments, as we both just looked at each other.

"well, i've gotta get going." i told him pointing behind me awkwardly.

"oh, no yeah me too." he nodded. "i've got basketball training." he stated, as i nodded.

"well, nice talking to you." i smiled, before walking away.

well, i wasn't expecting that today, but it was actually quite nice knowing that i helped him and his new girlfriend. it also felt like closure i never knew i needed hearing him apologise.

i continued to walk out of school and crossed the road to go to luke's. i figured jess would be there, since i didn't see him once today.

i opened the door and smiled at like who was stood with his usual moody expression.

i walked up to the counter, to ask him about jess. "uh, do you know where jess is?" i politely asked.

"did you not see him at school?" he questioned. "he just got home." he answered

he had skipped school.

"yeah, right." i chuckled awkwardly. "i saw him, i just forget to give him his sweater that he left at mine back." i told him coming up with an excuse.

"well he's up there, go see him." luke sighed pointing over to the stairs.

i smiled at him, before walking up the brown wooden stairs.

i gently knocked on the frosted glass door. "i told you to leave me alone!" jess yelled through the door.

i furrowed my eyebrows. who the fuck did he think he was speaking to?

"why can't everyone just go away." he huffed through the door, as he opened it seeing me stood there.

"oh." he softly said. "you can come in." he told me with a small smile.

i walked into the room and looked around at him, as he walked over to the table. i followed and took a seat next to him.

"where were you today?" i asked him curiously.

jess had a blank expression on his face and just looked like he couldn't be bothered. "i didn't want to go." he answered.

i didn't really say anything, apart from look at him. i knew that things weren't easy for him, especially with his mom.

i gave him a soft smile, before grabbing his hand and squeezing it twice to let him know i was there and was always gonna be there.